New machine must step in if Copenhageners do not sort their waste

How do you get people to sort their waste when a machine is ready to do it for them if they don't bother?

That question will soon become relevant in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby.

The waste company ARC – which operates Amager Bakke, among other facilities – is preparing a new sorting plant to handle residual waste from households in the three municipalities.

The sorting plant is built next to Amager Bakke, which is a waste-to-energy plant with a ski slope on top. (Photo: © Bax Lindhardt, Ritzau Scanpix)

The sorting plant is the first of its kind in the country, and it will find plastic, metal, paper, cardboard, and food and beverage cartons in the residual waste.

Nevertheless, residents in the three municipalities are expected to continue sorting their waste at home, just as they do today.

The sorting plant is intended to function as an extra safety net, fishing out recyclable materials from the residual waste before it is sent for incineration.

> Let's see if we can get the last bit recycled by building this sorting plant.

- We have a great scarcity of resources, so we need to recycle as much as possible instead of burning it, says Line Barfod (EL), who is the Climate, Environment, and Technical Mayor of Copenhagen.

Is the plant necessary because Copenhageners are not good enough at sorting waste?

- I think most people know that sometimes you're too tired, or you're dealing with something a bit unhygienic, and then it ends up in the residual waste. There are also Copenhageners who have kitchens that make it difficult to sort many different types of waste. That's why we said, let's see if we can get the last bit recycled by building this sorting plant, explains Line Barfod.

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Some may switch over

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ARC is the only waste company in the country that has received a dispensation from the state to build a sorting plant for residual waste.

Therefore, it is difficult to know whether post-sorting by a machine will affect people's motivation and desire to continue sorting waste at home.

- It's not going to be that people stop sorting waste tomorrow just because such a plant has been built, says Pelle Guldborg Hansen, a behavioral researcher and associate professor at Roskilde University.

For many people, it won't make any difference at all.

- There are those who like sorting waste. It's a form of virtue signaling, and the plant won't affect them. And then there are those who don't sort waste anyway. For them, the plant will primarily be an argument for why they already don't do it.

But then there are those who, according to Pelle Guldborg Hansen, fall between these two extremes.

- Here, there are probably some who might switch over. It could be people holding some waste that is a bit unhygienic. Should I sort it, they think, and maybe they normally would, but instead they say, oh well, they'll have to handle that at the plant.

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Facts about the sorting plant:

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* The sorting plant can process up to 120,000 tons of residual waste per year.

* In 2027, it is expected that approximately 8,500–14,000 tons of recyclable materials will be sorted out.

* The sorting plant costs 375 million Danish kroner. The cost is covered through the waste fee in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby.

Line Barfod hopes to avoid that situation. She emphasizes that waste sorted at home has better quality and a greater chance of being recycled.

- Well, it really makes a difference to sort at home. The machine can't do the same thing. When things have been mixed together with all sorts of different items in the residual waste, the opportunities for recycling are simply not the same, says the mayor.

According to the behavioral researcher, the municipalities have a bit of a communication task ahead of them.

- Details often get lost, and people just hear that there's a machine out there that can sort waste. So it could very well become a problem, says Pelle Guldborg Hansen.

* (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC)

* (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC)

* (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC)

1 / 3 (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC) 1 / 3 (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC) 2 / 3 (Photo: © Christoffer Regild, ARC) 3 / 3

The sorting plant will be test-run and adjusted in the coming period and will not be in full operation until spring 2027.

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